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PhD in Anthropology

The doctoral program requires a minimum of 96 hours of graduate credit.

Doctoral students must earn at least 64 hours (which may include 599) at the Urbana-Champaign campus. After the residence requirement has been fulfilled, the student may petition the Graduate College for permission to register in absentia. To register in absentia for thesis credit, approval must be obtained from the Graduate College by petition through the advisor and the department head. Most Ph.D. candidates spend at least three years in residence at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Students must be registered in the semester of their defense of thesis. A thesis is required for the Ph.D. degree. Ordinarily the thesis is based on either a combination of field and library research or a combination of laboratory and library research.

A doctoral student may work directly for the Ph.D. degree without taking an M.A. If an M.A. is taken, all requirements for it must be met by the time of, or before, the completion of the preliminary examination for the Ph.D. degree.

General Course Requirements for All Students

All doctoral students are required to take the two-semester 0.5 unit course Introduction to Illinois Anthropology (Anth 515IA) in their first year of graduate study. A doctoral candidate is also required to show a high proficiency in one or ordinary proficiency in two foreign languages prior to taking their preliminary examination. In the former case, the language must have an established scholarly literature. In the latter case, at least one of the two languages must have such a literature. Students may substitute a relevant skill such as advanced mathematics, computer applications, or labanotation for one foreign language at ordinary proficiency.

Additional course requirements vary according to subdiscipline. Please see the graduate handbook for additional information about these requirements.